The present invention relates generally to a heater for warming an operator of a vehicle, and more particularly to a heating assembly divided into a plurality of compartments, namely, a heavier forwardly located compartment and a lighter rearwardly located compartment. The heavier forwardly located compartment is attached to a solid steering column and the lighter rearwardly located compartment is attached to a steering column cover such that almost all vibrations and noise generated during the operation of the heater are eliminated.
Previous attempts to place a heater onto a steering column of a vehicle to supply desirable amounts of warm air to an operator have involved attaching the heater onto an exterior surface of a steering column cover, which encloses the steering column therein. The known heater includes a casing having an air blower and a heating means therein. Air is supplied by the air blower and the air is warmed by the heating means. The warm air is ventilated in the direction of the operator through an air duct defined in the casing. The rear end of the casing is open to form an air outlet or an opening through which the warm air ventilates in the direction of the operator.
The air blower and heating means exert a substantial force upon the exterior surface of the steering column cover which must sustain this substantial force. Hence, the steering column cover has to be of sufficient strength to sustain all forces exerted by the air blower and the heater upon it. This requires the steering column cover to be of sufficient strength which can increase the weight of the assembly and result in higher production costs. The steering column cover must be of sufficient strength, otherwise, when the heater operates vibrations and noise occur due to the heater being mounted on the light-weight steering column cover.